9 types of Federal Firearms Licensees – The Legal Brief ~ VIDEO

USA –-(Ammoland.com)- Welcome back to The Legal Brief, the show where we CRUSH the various legal myths and misinformation surrounding various areas of the gun world. I’m your host Adam Kraut and today we are talking about the different types of FFLs that one could have.

As you may remember from the recent video I did on who needs an FFL, where we discussed who needs an FFL when dealing in firearms, I mentioned that there were other instances where an individual or company could need an FFL.

There are actually nine different types of FFLs that exist.

9 types of Federal Firearms Licensees

The first type is the second most prominently issued license with over 56,000 active licensees as of 2015. A type 01 FFL is issued to individuals or entities who are engaged in the business in dealing in firearms other than destructive devices. So exactly the kind of license that we were talking about in the recent episode. This would account for a large majority of gun shops and kitchen table FFLs. These FFLs can buy and sell Title I firearms to customers, take firearms in on consignment, and perform gunsmithing services. And guys, I know I cover a lot of different technical terms, but if you have questions, like what a Title I firearm is, go check out the playlist on YouTube. For that answer you’d want the episode called National Firearms Act Explained.

Type 02 FFLs are issued to pawnbrokers. While it allows for the pawnbroker to do exactly what the Type 01 FFL to do, it does have another advantage to those who are operating as a pawnbroker. Unlike a Type 01 FFL, who can not dispose of a handgun to a non-resident of the state where the licensee is located, a Type 02 FFL can return a handgun to a non-resident who pawned it there.

Say Jon went to Florida and pawned a handgun for that jet ski he really wanted to buy. Unlike at a Type 1 FFL where he would have had to sell it to them, rebuy it and ship it back to an FFL in his state, at a Type 2 FFL he could have the firearm returned to him…assuming he could cough up the cash.

A type 03 FFL is for a collector of Curios and Relics. These are the most prevalent licenses available with over 60,000 active licenses as of 2015. These are granted to individuals who collect C&R firearms. We’ll cover those separately in a different episode.

A type 06 FFL is issued to a manufacturer of ammunition for firearms other than destructive devices or armor piercing ammunition. These licensees produce ammunition that is commercially available for you to purchase. You know the guy at the gun show who is selling his reloads. More often than not, that person is not licensed and based on the law and ATF’s position pertaining to being “engaged in the business”, they likely should be.

A type 07 FFL is issued to a manufacturer of firearms other than destructive devices. A type 07 can do everything a type 01 can in addition to actually manufacturing firearms. While not necessarily intuitive, ATF considers the mere assembly of parts to constitute manufacturing, if those parts are owned by the licensee. So, for example, if you as a licensee have an AR-15 lower receiver in your inventory and assemble the lower, you’ve just manufactured a firearm. Take a complete AR-15 lower receiver and attach an upper to it? Again, you’ve just manufactured a firearm and you would need to be a type 07 to do so. And this license specifies that they cannot manufacture a destructive device.

Destructive Devices covers a broad category of things but you can mostly think of them as anything that explodes, like a grenade. It does also include anything with a bore diameter greater than half an inch. This is why guns like the street sweeper and USAS-12 are now regulated as DDs rather than regular shotguns. And for those of your scratching your heads wondering why most 12 gauge shotguns are not DDs, the definition excludes shotguns the secretary finds particularly suitable for sporting purposes. Like your duck gun.

The last four license types are the least common. Those include the type 08 Importer of Firearms Other Than Destructive Devices or Ammunition for Firearms Other Than Destructive Devices, or Ammunition Other Than Armor Piercing Ammunition, the type 09 Dealer in Destructive Devices, the Type 10 Manufacturer of Destructive Devices, Ammunition for Destructive Devices or Armor Piercing Ammunition and the Type 11 Importer of Destructive Devices, Ammunition for Destructive Devices or Armor Piercing Ammunition.

Scared Scream So Many

As you may have guessed, the Type 08 allows for the importation of firearms which are not destructive devices, the importation of ammunition for firearms which are not destructive devices or the importation of ammunition which is not armor piercing ammunition. So to import things that don’t go kaboom and aren’t armor piercing, you need a type 08 license.

The remaining three license types deal with destructive devices. As of 2015 there were only 66 licensees in the entire country which were licensed to deal in destructive devices. Given that most people aren’t buying destructive devices, this isn’t really surprising. There were far more manufacturers of DDs or their ammunition and importers of DDs and their ammunition than actual dealers. As it is likely most of the sales are for law enforcement and military, the lack of licenses isn’t necessarily unexpected.

As you may have noticed, we did not cover Special Occupation Taxpayers or SOTs in this episode, for instance the ultra common 07/02 (the 02 being related to the SOT) but we’ll talk more about them in the future when we discuss dealing in NFA firearms.

Hopefully that gives you a better understanding of the different types of FFLs that are out there. If you guys liked this episode, you know what to do, hit that like button and share it around with your friends. Have a question you want answered on this show, head over to The Legal Brief section on theguncollective.com. Don’t forget to like The Gun Collective on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Full 30, Snap Chat and wherever else you can catch us on social media.

The Gun Collective is dedicated to bringing you the highest quality, fast paced gun content possible. Started in June 2015 by Jon Patton, TGC has rapidly taken off to become a go-to source for the things you need to know without a bunch of BS. Please check out TheGunCollective.com to learn more and see what the hype is all about!

Yes, there are a bunch of licensees, holders of FFL’s, though “thanks” to the antics of the BATFE, and local know nothings, not as many as there used to be, which leads me to pose the following question. GIven that the vast majority of Licensees are law abiding, exactly what is the bimbo depicted, sigh arms upraised got her knickers in the proverbial knot over. Indeed, what.

I’m glad I live in a very gun friendly state of Michigan. We have high taxes, bad roads, expensive gas, outrageous auto insurance rates. So the state government gives us guns to make up for the other stuff. Now I’m just waiting for ammo prices to drop so I get out shoot.

But if it makes you feel any better … in CA the state income tax tops out at almost 10%, the median house price in our county (just south of San Fran) is $1.4million (who can afford to live here?!), and gasoline just went up to $3.05/gallon (higher in other local towns). The federal poverty level here for a family of 4 is annual income of $105K (I kid you not). And as you’ve heard, the general climate is *very* anti-gun (a lot of ignorant people here, who don’t realize they’re ignorant). Mags over 10 rounds are illegal, online ammo sales are about to be abolished (pushing ammo costs up 60%, by my estimate), every ammo purchase will be *registered* to the buyer, and no new semi-auto handgun model introduced since 2013 is illegal to possess (outside of LEO).

So are you sure that things are SO bad in Michigan? Try to look at the bright side — you can afford to live there, taxes and gas prices are worse many other places, and MI actually believes that the 2nd Amendment exists. (OK, the weather *is* lots better out here in CA :-), but … )

Once upon a time, it was along time ago, I lived in California for a couple of years, prior to going overseas. In any way, back then, in the late 1960’s, Berkeley-Oakland were reasonably pleasant places to live, and there were well attended, regularly scheduled rifle matches, 200,300 and 600 yards at Fort Barry and USMC Valleyo. Also short range at Chabot Park in the hills above Oakland. In any event, the following strikes me as worth brief mention. The cockup that is California these days is attributable exclusively to the voters of California. Until such time as that mob wakes up, if they ever do, things will go in only one direction, respecting individual rights, DOWNHILL.

You are right, Alan. It’s totally the fault of CA voters in its 3 most populous areas: SF Bay, LA, and San Diego. They vote and vote for more and more state gov’t programs, handouts, and all the politicians that support them. So many people have been convinced that they are “victims” that the notion of “personal responsibility” is all but lost. The party on the Left sucks up all the votes in those 3 areas, yet those voters don’t realize that the party they are voting for *perpetuates* their own victimhood because it keeps that party in power.

The voters think that they *want* a nanny state to take care of them … all I can say is, “be careful what you wish for”. The nanny state will end up being far more oppressive than any groups they believe have previously oppressed them, and they are doing it to themselves.

Part of the nanny state notion is that only *police* should have guns, “the police will protect us” (talk about naive!), and everyone else should be disarmed (which in practice means that only law-abiding citizens will be disarmed). All I can say about that is — thank God for the new SCOTUS appointment; I can’t wait to see what happens over the next few years. MAYBE some of these insane laws will get overturned as unconstitutional.

I fear that the Left/victim mentality has reached critical mass here — there aren’t enough intelligent, logical voters left to buck that trend. Short some politically traumatic event (not even sure what that could be), the only solution I can see is for those with any sense, who aren’t chained to CA (I am :-(, for now) to vote with their feet, abandon a slowly sinking ship, and move to a state that actually believes in fiscal and personal responsibility. Let the socialists drown in the ocean of red ink and be oppressed by the nanny state that they are creating for themselves. IMHO :-).

I was contemplating an FFL license and the man strongly suggested the one which deals in suppressors AND the modification of semiautomatic weapons as well. I cannot recall which FFL license that was. Can you please advise me on this? Also, would you recommend I move to a more “Gun-Friendly” State, such as, Northern Idaho as planned, due to the Anti-Gun sentiment here in California…. Ridiculous!!!!

I thought there was another type of FFL license, which type allows the licensee to purchase suppressors and automatic (select fire weapons), without a tax stamp.

I thought I also read somewhere about this type of FFL being able to modify a semi-automatic weapon to be fully automatic, and possess and use said weapon (as a “demo”), but not be able to sell the automatic weapon.

that was a movie on HBO that you’re talking about. I think it started off with a few people taken some hits of LSD and daydreaming that they are in the REAL United Dates of America we’re all the people had FREEDOM, LIBERTY and SOVEREIGNTY and all that kind of stuff, but the people also fought for it on a daily basis and demanded it at every level of government.

The people in the movie had BACKBONE and didn’t bend over at the drop of a hat because somebody got their feelings hurt.

I had seen that movie at one time. It was before I was a young boy in the United States Marine Corps.

Since then people started smoking crack and then started lowering their drawers and showing their crack and that dream all went away

I feel your pain! I’m in CA, where a new law takes effect Jan 1, 2018, that requires all ammo purchases to be made “in person” (no more online purchases, period). I understand that a LOT of folks in CA are stocking up on online-purchased ammo before Jan 1, so they won’t have to buy ammo locally for at least a few years after that law takes effect. After that, either we’re in the same deep doo-doo as MA, or perhaps by then lawsuits challenging these useless laws will wind their way up to the Supreme Court and get overturned.

How about people waking up, if such a thing is not to much to expect, and electing some ,egislative types with the guts and common sense to repeal the legislative garbage currently on the layaway books, or is that to much to expect.

At least in places like CA (and probably NY and MA), I’m sorry to say “yes, it’s too much to expect”. The # of voters claiming victimhood, demanding gov’t handouts, and wanting a nanny state has reached critical mass in those states. Until there is some kind of political calamity, no one can be elected to any statewide office in such state unless they hail from the party of the Left. Why should (in their minds) those voters change things and cut off all their handouts?

Playing the victim is (temporarily) the easy way out — until they discover at some point that the government *can’t* support them indefinitely (“That’s the problem with Socialism: sooner or later, you run out of Other People’s Money”).